Garza looks ahead to challenges in Dallas

By David Hinojosa :
July 25, 2014
: Updated: July 25, 2014 10:06pm

Gil Garza, who served for 12 years as San Antonio ISD's athletic director, begins his new job with Dallas ISD on Aug. 11. He takes over a department rocked by a recruiting scandal.

Photo By San Antonio Express-News

SAISD Athletic Director Gil Garza takes pride in the updates made at the Alamo Convocation Center. San Antonio Independent School District officials unveiled the Alamo Convocation Center during a tour for the media, Monday, Jan. 6, 2013.

Photo By Kin Man Hui/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

San Antonio Independent School District Athletic Director Gil Garza addresses an audience during a district update to the community about the future renovations to Alamo Stadium and to the Alamo Convocation Center on Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2012. About 50 people were at the presentation. Construction is scheduled to start in December.

Photo By TOM REEL /San Antonio Express-News file photo

San Antonio Independent School District athletic director Gil Garza, seen here in 2002, was named to the Texas High School Athletic Directors Association's Hall of Honor at a banquet Sunday.

SAN ANTONIO — The challenge of repairing the Dallas ISD athletic department was too good an opportunity for Gil Garza to pass up.

It's why Garza will resign as San Antonio ISD's athletic director Aug. 8 to become athletic director for the Dallas ISD. He begins Aug. 11.

“It's a unique opportunity to make a difference in a very large school district,” Garza said. “I still have some goals that I'd like to accomplish, and I'm going to do my best to make them happen.”

Garza served as SAISD athletic director for 12 years. Before that, the Edinburg native was a football coach and athletic director at Edcouch-Elsa and Pharr-San Juan-Alamo.

“I leave with a lot of mixed emotions,” Garza said. “I've been here 12 years, and I've made friendships with a lot of people. It's a great school district. It was a tough decision to make.”

Perhaps Garza's biggest contribution to SAISD was overseeing the renovation projects at the Alamo Convocation Center and Alamo Stadium that were part of a $515 million bond approved by voters in 2010.

“What made it really difficult was the people I worked with (in San Antonio), the school board, have been so good to me,” Garza said. “They've been so supportive of all our initiatives and made sure everything fell into place. In making the decision, I just took everything into consideration and I'm taking a leap of faith that I can get this done.”

Garza believes his experience in heading athletic programs in San Antonio and the Rio Grande Valley — particularly in nonaffluent areas — will help him prepare for the challenges ahead in Dallas.

“This isn't Highland Park or Allen,” Garza said. “This is inner-city Dallas, Texas. I'm confident that I'm well aware of the problems that we have in the district.”

His biggest challenge will be restoring an athletic program that was rocked last month when Dallas ISD superintendent Mike Miles fired 15 athletic department employees, including AD Jeff Johnson, as the result of a recruiting investigation. There were accusations of coaches recruiting athletes, which is a violation of UIL rules.

In March, Dallas Madison defeated SAISD's Sam Houston 77-62 in the Class 3A semifinals en route to winning the state championship. Kimball won the 4A state title in 2014.

“We have a lot of cleaning up to do, and we are going to do it the right way,” Garza said. “That's what (attracted me to the job) more than anything. Their athletic department is in a little bit of a mess right now. I want to be the person to help fix it, so all of us can be proud.”